Preparations to the oncoming expo are in full gear as more exhibitors confirm their attendance. What’s unique there will be a zoo meant to showcase wild animals to particularly urban dwellers who rarely visit the parks.

According to sources Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in conjunction with the Initiative for Development Consultant Services (IDECOS) will showcase the first of its kind zoo in Rwanda’s international trade fair scheduled on 28 July.

Confirming the matter, Ephraim Karangwa the acting director of investments and special projects at Private Sector Federation explained that over 10 different types of animal species will be exhibited. UWA is known to exhibit lions, giraffes’ antelopes and snakes.

Rwanda also intends to replicate this as a way to encourage locals in tourism. Karangwa further pointed out that that there were in talks with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to find ways of establishing similar zoos in urban areas.

“So far RDB has shown interests to a start a zoo in the city as a way to promote the tourism sector,” he remarked.

Rwanda’s tourism sector has continued to register phenomenon growth. And one particular spectacle that has become a must-see for any tourist visiting the country is the now revered Rwandan trademark; the mountain gorilla. The forthcoming Kwita Izina ceremony is just but one of RDB-Tourism’s strategies to draw more tourists into the country. IGIHe.com sampled the adventures and experiences of a New Zealand tourist LOUISE HEALY. The article was first published by the Dominion Post.

“Crouch down and don’t move a muscle,” the guide said with steady unease as the silverback charged towards us, beating his mighty fists against his chest.

Squatting down in the thick vegetation of the Karisimbi forest in northwest Rwanda with nowhere to run and absolutely nowhere to hide I began to question why I had come here, and paid to come here at that.

Thankfully, our guide Francis, knowledgeable in the ways of gorillas and particularly the famous Susa family that reside in this massive forest bordering Uganda, made some awkward howling and grunting sounds and averted disaster.

When we finally got the courage to raise our heads and breathe easy we saw a family of eight gorillas chomping on the greenery ahead of us.

The sheer size of them was an awesome sight. The 160-kilograms blackback (mother) was nursing her five-year-old twins (Byishimo and Impano – one of only five sets of twins to survive in the history of the Susa family, totalling 41) while their brothers and sisters played on the mounds of leaves and wood as their (now pacified) father glanced between them and us.

It really was like a throwback to Gorillas in the Mist, the famous film about the life of gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey who went to Rwanda over 40 years ago to work with and protect endangered gorillas from poachers and elements of a corrupt government on a macho killing spree.

And while the poaching of gorillas has been somewhat curbed, it is just a small part in a bitter past that Rwanda is still trying to recover from.
Genocide on an unfathomable level hit the country in the early 90s and resulted in the massacre of more than 900,000 people. The core of it was civil, between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes, and stemmed from class warfare, with the Tutsis perceived to have greater wealth and social status (as well as favouring cattle ranching over what is seen as the lower-class farming of the Hutus).

But when things got complicated and the government backed the Hutus (with the collaboration of the French, in part), thousands of people were butchered in massacres that plagued the whole country. This climaxed in 1994 and, 17 years on, the country is still getting back on its feet.
Rwanda has an image problem. Say its name and people instinctively think of two things: genocide and Hotel Rwanda, the graphic Hollywood movie about the events of 1994. Contrary to what people may think, however, Rwanda today is an extremely safe country to visit. Tourism is still being developed, and as a result the Rwandese people still see travellers as a relative novelty, and in turn will give their time and help and impart advice to visitors, expecting nothing in return.

As part of political efforts to overcome divisions that led to the genocide, the Rwandan Government does not collect data on ubwoko (ethnic groups) and banned its inclusion on identity cards. From the locals I spoke to, it is clear that the effects of the horrendous events that took place almost two decades ago are still at the forefront of most peoples minds, but despite this most Rwandese are trying to put the past behind them. Travelling around the country felt safe and there were definitely no overt signs of ethnic or civil tensions.

Kigali, the capital, is a hub of activity and is slowly but surely regaining its reputation as Rwanda’s party town. Its main attraction, however, is Rwanda’s genocide museum, the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, which is a must for any tourist as it outlines in detail the events that unfolded to result in one of the most vicious genocides in history.

The museum is especially worthwhile for those intending to go south to visit memorials at Ntarama, Nyamata or Murambi (the site of one of the biggest massacres – 80,000 people were killed there over two days in April 1994).

A ride to the museum, which is on the outskirts of town, on a boda-boda (a motorcycle taxi and a tourist attraction in itself) costs about 30 cents. Apart from that there are no other real sights and activities as such to see in Kigali, which makes it an excellent place to soak up the atmosphere and relax before embarking on any trip around rural Rwanda.
It’s rural Rwanda where the real essence and beauty of the country lies. Known as Les Pays des Milles Collines (Land of a Thousand Hills), Rwanda is a country full of tumbling hills where almost every unprotected piece of land is cultivated; even the sheer mountainsides are edged with countless terraces full of beans, potatoes and millet.
From a distance, the landscape resembles a large patchwork quilt of deep browns and greens, making it look like something straight out of a Tolkien novel.

And nowhere are the mountains more vast and stunning than the magnificent Virunga volcanoes in the northwest, where hidden in the dense forests are some of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas.
The Parc National des Volcans – a chain of seven volcanoes that border with Congo and Uganda and the definitive place in Rwanda to track these endangered animals – was closed for a time in the 90s due to rebel activity; as a result many travellers chose to see the gorillas at the Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks in Uganda.

It re-opened, however, in 1999 and in the last 12 years the number of visitors coming to see some of the world’s 780 rare mountain gorillas has steadily increased.

Rwanda is a relatively cheap country to visit, but tracking the rare mountain gorillas is not. The cost of a day trip to see the gorillas in Rwanda is US$500. And while that may sound like a high price to pay, the chance of encountering one of these gorillas in all their glory is a once in a lifetime opportunity which no tourist visiting Rwanda should miss. The bonus of visiting the gorillas in Rwanda rather than neighbouring Uganda is that tours in Uganda have to be booked a couple of months in advance, whereas in Rwanda a gorilla tracking tour can be booked just a day ahead through the local ORTPN, Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks. And that was exactly what I did.
OUR GROUP managed to catch a glimpse of the Susa family within an hour of trekking into the Karisimbi forest (some tours can take up to seven hours to find the gorillas). After the short but gruelling hike through mucky undergrowth with rain spilling from the heavens, we came across the creatures that became Dian Fossey’s obsession.

And it was clear to see why. It was a wet day but when the early morning sun finally broke through the clouds and suffused the sky with gold that shimmered against the surrounding landscape, these creatures looked invincible.

They playfully bounded over the broken trees and thick vegetation, all the time hollering to each other in ambiguous howls and squeals. Gorillas from the pack encircled us from the sides and behind, but mostly just out of curiosity.

And the silverback that had been so territorial ended up sitting down and covering up his face from the prying eyes and camera lenses in an act of defiance -obviously put out by tourists invading his homestead.
As we made our way back down the mountain there was a still silence all around as we contemplated the beautiful sight we had just encountered.

Even sitting at the beachside resort of Lake Kivu at Kibuye, Rwanda’s new Mediterranean, it was hard to get the image of some of the world’s last remaining gorillas out of my head.

Rwanda may still be recovering from a bitter past but a visit there will make you feel, at times, privileged to be one of the few tourists exploring the country for the first time.

It’s the hidden gem in east Africa that hasn’t yet been exploited by mass tourism.

Get there quickly.

This article was first published by the Dominion Post

Both the government and stakeholders are rather optimistic that the waiters’ race is a key option to improve service delivery and customer care in the tourism and hotel sector.

The race which engages the waiters and waitresses from hotels and restaurants in the country in a five kilometer fast walking race carrying a serving tray with a bottle and two glassful of beer is aimed at helping the participants to be fast and effective while delivering services to customers.

Rica Rwigamba the head of Tourism and Conservation at Rwandan Development board (RDB) says that such competitions if fully promoted will help improve the service delivery which has rendered difficulty in the fast tracking of the sector especially the hospitality section.

“Customer service is essential for tourism to grow and prosper; such races improve the service delivery in the industry,” she further added, “in the long run this should be an initiative of all stakeholders to put up such competitions and should not be once a year but regularly and the government is committed to supporting them”, she said while handing over cash and trophies of the winning participants at Top tower hotel on Sunday.

The tourism boss also noted that waiters and waitresses play a crucial role in the sector and thus a need to be recognized and commended for their efforts.

“For a person to decide the hotel to go to depends on the service delivery but the hotels are just structures and waiters are the image and the force for their hotels they work in. It shows how important their job is,” she said adding that the race is important to the sector and that’s why RDB is supporting the initiative.

This race is meant to encourage service providers in hotels for instance to be fast. What is more the competition is also used to recognize the best waiter/waitress in the city,’ said the managing director of Rwanda High Development- RHD, Diana Ramarohetra who is also the organizer of the race.

Ramarohetra further pointed out that since the competition’s inception last year, progress has been seem among hotel severs especially those who have participated in the race.

Vicent Nzigira the assistant food and beverage manager at Serana Hotel which won this year’s race trophy said that the competition helps them to rate their staff on efficiency and fastness in serving customers.
This year, Lemigo hotel’s Sandrine emerged the winner while Mupenzi Ferician from Serena emerged the best waiter with Serena taking it for the second consecutive time.

Poachers who have been routinely feasting on wild animals in the Akagera National Park now face tough times as the park management equips rangers with state of the art anti-poaching tactics and counter offensive skills. 

The rangers who are now responsible for guarding the park, have been trained various tactics such as counter defense and offensive rescue and enemy engagement skills. 

Brian Harris the Chief Executive Officer Conservation Outcomes in Tanzania who presided over the pass out of 17 rangers, noted that the skills rangers have acquired in the three weeks training will help bolster the park’s security which has been porous. 

“Your work is extremely dangerous, strenuous and risky and therefore you need a lot of skills to be ready to go to the field and challenge this demanding task”, he said noting that the skills they have acquired will help them not only fight poaching but also preserve the diversity which is notable to Rwanda’s economy. 

Harris said that without skilled and good rangers the objectives of the park’s establishment would not be achieved and urged them to vigilantly put in practice the skills in safeguarding the park while also protecting each other from ruthless poachers.

The government in partnership with the African Parks from South Africa is pumping a $10m investment to restore Akagera’s biodiversity, improve its long-term financial viability and also increase tourism receipts coming to the national economy. 

Bryan Havemann, CEO and Project Manager Akagera National Park said,“Poaching has been rife and has had a negative impact on the animal numbers”. He further noted that without good rangers, there is nothing that can be done to protect the park. 

Dr Tony Mudakikwa head of veterinary unit, research and monitoring said that the government is focusing at improving the park’s management which will eventually be a favorite destination for tourists. “We want to adopt a modern way of managing the park, and training of trackers is one issue. We expect less poaching which has been a problem, reduce human and animal conflict and increase the number of animal species so that we can expect more tourists and increase income”, he said. 

Havemann said that rangers have been equipped with arms, safety gadgets. In addition a modern communication hub is yet to be established which will facilitate communication during the patrols.

Rwanda will import animals including lions and rhinos and invite five-star hotel developers to upgrade Akagera National Park in a project funded by investors including the head of Wal-Mart.

The $12.3 million project is being managed by Akagera Management Co., a unit of African Parks, the South Africa-based non-profit development company. Wal-Mart Chairman Samuel Robson Walton pledged $2.5 million to the project, Bryan Havemann, project manager for Akagera, said in an interview.

This year, the industry may generate $216 million, the government said in March. In 2008, 17,000 people visited Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park to see the country’s mountain gorillas, according to the World Bank.

“We can keep people who come for the gorillas in the country,” Havemann said in a phone interview yesterday from Kigali, the capital. “The economic effect is going to be huge.”

The Rwandan government last month said it would spend $2.3 million helping build an electric fence as long as 75 miles (120 kilometers) around parts of the 386 square-mile reserve. The barrier will curb poaching and quell some of the human-animal conflict that has plagued the park in recent years, Havemann said.

“One of our biggest problems is that people set snares by the hundreds,” he said. Another issue is keeping the animals in the reserve. Last month, 55 elephants — about half the total population — wandered onto nearby farmland before being driven back by park authorities, Havemann said.

The Athens Group, a U.S. luxury-hotel developer, expressed interest in two of the three hotel concessions available at Akagera, Havemann said. The group may build resorts that rent rooms for $1,500 to $2,000 per night, he said. The company declined to comment when contacted by e-mail.

The electric fence is expected to be completed in about a year, after which developers plan to re-introduce black rhinos and lions into the park. The animals were exterminated by poachers and cattle farmers who overran the park in the early 1990s amid conflict and lawlessness. They will join elephants, buffalo and leopards, making the park home to the “big five” animals, a draw for international tourists, Havemann said.

The Walton FamilyFoundation didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

“You can take the door off if you like, you’ll get better photographs.” Before I’ve even nodded my consent, pilot Jean de Dieu already has the door of the bright blue chopper in his hands. “Let’s hope it doesn’t rain,” I venture feebly as I assess the seat-belt situation.

I’m on the tarmac at Kigali airport in Rwanda, about to get a lift to the Volcanoes National Park, home to the endangered mountain gorillas, in a Robinson R44 helicopter. “We get a lot of tourists who want us to drop them off there,” says de Dieu, as though he is running a taxi service.

That Rwanda attracts the kind of tourist who prefers to charter a helicopter than make the long journey by road is testimony to the remarkable transformation the country has undergone since the 1994 genocide destroyed its infrastructure and its reputation. This is just the kind of tourist President Paul Kagame was hoping to attract when he began promoting travel to the region in 2003. By focusing on high-value, low environmental-impact tourism, Rwanda has attracted considerable foreign investment over the past few years, with a host of new openings aimed at the discerning tourist.

The trend began in 2007, when Kenyan hotel group Serena, part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, took over the management of two properties and turned one into a five-star hotel in the capital Kigali and the other into a four-star property on the lakeside resort of Gisenyi. Then, in 2008, Governors’ Camp opened Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, right at the foot of the Virunga volcano chain and very close to the entrance of the Volcanoes National Park, prompting Virunga, the area’s original lodge, to undertake an extensive refurbishment. Last year a new lakeside lodge opened in Kibuye and a five-star property began to draw tourists to Nyungwe Forest, one of the largest remaining cloud forests in Africa. Visitors already seem to be taking note : revenue from international tourism rose 14 per cent last year.

Rounding a corner, a collection of stilted bamboo cottages come into view, jutting out of the steep banks of the lakeshore. “That’s Cormoron lodge,” the driver tells me. “It opened last October, and is owned by a Belgian woman who used to be a racing driver.” I get them to pull up at the little jetty and climb up along mint-lined paths to the reception. Rwanda was a Belgian colony from the 1920s until independence in 1962, and owner Nathalie Cox has spent most of her life here. Deciding to stay the night, I get my own wooden cabin, which is spacious and comfortable and has a balcony from which I can see the red glow of Democratic Republic of Congo’s live Nyiragongo volcano. In the morning, the lake looks so inviting I can’t resist taking a dive off the jetty and then borrow a kayak to spend a couple of hours paddling around the islets off the coast, and shouting the occasional amakuru, or good morning, to fishermen in their wooden dugout canoes.

Finally it’s time to hit the road and my driver turns up in a classic Toyota Land Cruiser to take me to Nyungwe Forest—an area of nearly 1,000 sq km teeming with wildlife, including colobus monkeys and chimpanzees. There may be potholes and endless twisting bends along the dirt road, but it is a stunning drive with the road snaking around the cliffs and the lake providing a dramatic backdrop. With the window down, the smell of eucalyptus wafts in, and the cries of local children who rush to the roadside to call “Muzungo, muzungo” (the regional term for tourist, from the Swahili word to wander aimlessly) and occasionally ask for pens or francs, but more often just wave and smile.

Acres of tea plantations herald our arrival at Nyungwe Forest Lodge, which was built with a substantial investment from Dubai World Africa (a subsidiary of the Dubai’s state investment company). “That’s the helipad,” says my driver signaling a clearing up ahead. It seems that every lodge worth its salt has one. And then the building appears, an imposing structure of dark wood and stone walls. Staff are awaiting our arrival with cold towels and juice and we are escorted into a spacious lounge with stylish modern furniture, arty coffee-table books and a blazing log fire—the sort of place you might find in South Africa. I am then taken to my private chalet, one of many scattered widely among the tea plantations, with a private deck overlooking the forest beyond. The rooms are huge with kingly bathrooms and I can well believe that each one cost the rumored $1m to build and furnish.

The lodge isn’t the only new opening in the forest : there is also a canopy walk, the first of its kind in the region, and I am keen to get there before it closes for the day.

It’s a leisurely 20-minute stroll into the forest from the Uwinka Visitor Centre to the start of the walk. My guide points out epiphytic orchids, high on the trunk of a mahogany tree, and the blood-red leaves of the “welcome” tree. “When they fall, they create a red carpet,” he explains.

The canopy walk itself doesn’t look too daunting from the ground. It is 90m long at its main section and 50m off the ground. I begin with cocky confidence, but as I get halfway across the main section, the vertigo kicks in. Below me, clouds are wisping up through the trees like smoke and from this height the canopy below resembles hundreds of heads of broccoli. I hold on tightly to the metal wire at chest height and try to look out at the horizon, rather than down. After all, if I can fly in a helicopter with no doors, this should be easy.

This article originally appeared in Financial Times